Corbett's transportation plan could net $25M for Route 2001

Gov. Tom Corbett this week proposed a new transportation plan for Pennsylvania that would raise nearly $2 billion for infrastructure and give consumers a few price breaks.

BETH BRELJE

Gov. Tom Corbett this week proposed a new transportation plan for Pennsylvania that would raise nearly $2 billion for infrastructure and give consumers a few price breaks.

Under the plan, regional improvements that could be completed include the final section of Route 2001 in Pike County from Milford to Bushkill for $25 million, Transportation Secretary Barry Schoch said Thursday.

The transportation plan also includes some customer service enhancements and cost reductions:

Pennsylvania's current annual vehicle registrations would be replaced with a two-year registration. The current four-year driver's license would become a six-year license. Vehicle registration stickers would be eliminated and there would be an optional fee for individuals who have allowed their insurance to lapse as opposed to a three-month registration suspension.

The transportation plan would remove the cap on the state oil company franchise tax over five years. That is a tax paid by gas distributers that provide fuel to gas stations.

The tax is calculated using a formula that includes the average wholesale price of gas per gallon. It is a number that was originally supposed to be recalculated annually and move with inflation.

But since 1983, the average wholesale price in the formula was capped at $1.25 per gallon, said John Kulik, executive vice president of the Pennsylvania Petroleum Association.

"Now the average wholesale price is easily $3 a gallon on any given day," Kulik said.

The tax is artificially low.

If Corbett removes the cap as proposed, the increase would help finance a five-year, $5.4 billion transportation initiative for roads, bridges and mass transit.

The removal of the cap would be partially offset by a phased-in reduction in the liquid fuels tax from 12 cents per gallon to 10 cents per gallon over two years.

Companies could pass the tax on to consumers, but that is not a certainty, Kulik said.

"Our members, as much as any industry in the state, realize that we need to do something for the roads and bridges. We are basically neutral at this stage," Kulik said of removing the cap.

Schoch says there has been a state transportation funding shortfall from inflation, reduced tax income due to more fuel-efficient vehicles and decades of under-investing in infrastructure.

"With its limited resources, PennDOT has been able to make progress on restoring or replacing old bridges, but it has done so at the expense of roadways. The number of roads in poor condition statewide has risen from fewer than 7,500 miles in 2007 to more than 9,200 miles in 2011," Schoch said.